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Common Marketing Mistakes: Who are You Advertising To?

September 8th, 2011

I thought that it would be good to write this month about something that I see all too often with clients. Advertising for themselves, rather than for whom they are trying to reach. Let me share some of the most common mistakes that I run across…

Writing ad copy for yourself, not for whom you are trying to reach.

All too often advertisers say what they want to say, rather than what customers want to know and need to hear. The idea is to share with potential customers what you can do for them, not what you think they want to hear about you. Honestly, they probably don’t care.

Designing an advertisement from the wrong point of view.

Remember, you see your business from the inside out, while your customers are on the outside looking in. Try getting out from “behind the desk” so to speak, to better see things from their point of view. I once joked with a dentist to sit down in a patient’s chair in his practice. Once seated he asked me why I had him do this. As he sat there looking up at me standing over him, I simply said, “now you have the same point of view that your patients have of you…and for me, that’s over 40 years experiencing it!” Think about it.

Writing “War & Peace” on a postage stamp.

One of the most often made mistakes that I see. Your advertisement is meant to inform and peak their interest, NOT tell your freakin’ life story!

Speaking in your language, not your customer’s.

Getting too technical with your copy is a real no-no. It might make for an impressive vocabulary on a Saturday night @ the club, but if no one can understand you, does it really matter…

I mean really?!

By eliminating these often made mistakes, your advertising will immediately be better for it…as will the people you are trying to reach…

…and doesn’t that make sense?!


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The KPN Group was formed to give businesses a chance in the ever-changing world of marketing to actually grow business and expand prospects. To learn more about how we can get your business seen and your message heard click here  www.kevinmakessense.com


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Website Language that Motivates Action

April 18th, 2011

Search engine optimization can be of vital importance to a company’s growth, success, and even survival. Being at the top of any key search term list is highly important and will give the company that  guides visitors (business prospects) to the site a much better chance of gaining a new client. But once you arrive at that top site and begin to read the contents, what happens if you get confused? What if the message does not resonate with you? You leave and go to the next one in line, right? But if the message had been crafted properly, you would be more likely to stay, read on, and be far more likely to make contact.

Sellers of inexpensive or commodity items can start and finish a sale on line with a couple of clicks. The cost of acquisition to the seller is minimal per unit transaction. But what about providers of professional services? Their cost of acquisition per client is vastly higher and more complicated. They can start to win a client’s interest on their Website, but they cannot finish it there. They must somehow persuade the Web visitor to call or email for more information. But how?

To meet the demands of people who search Websites for beneficial information, regardless of how they arrived at the site (search, direct referral, information from a business card) the message must be direct, beneficial to the reader, and get to the point quickly – faster than most people realize. Most Website language is simply factual, detailed, and accurate. What could possibly be wrong with that? Plenty.

Factual and accurate language frequently contains no requisite motivation – no compelling reason to take action. People make purchases based on emotion of some type – happiness, compassion, fear, competitive spirit. In the negative, if they are put off by confusion and frustration, they will disappear quickly. The Website owner may never know that any opportunity actually existed.  If your Website content contains no such motivational appeal, you have a major problem. Once someone has formed a negative opinion, regardless of why, they are not likely to change their mind.

Don’t think it matters much? Take a look at this video produced by a company in the UK. I wish I had created it. After you watch it, you decide if a few simple words can cause a powerful response.

A special thank you to Chandler Turner, President of Accurate Business Communication, for this powerful post. Working to create excellent SEO content is only part of the issue. There must be a great user experience to go along with it. For a better understanding of why these seemingly unimportant changes can be critical to your success, please visit Mr. Turner’s website at www.accu-biz.com.

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Online Advertising Budgets Strong on Local & Daily Deals

March 24th, 2011
BIA/Kelsey, a respected authority on local advertising,  gathered top representatives of interactive local media, local search, mobile local and social local media to examine the latest business models, technology and revenue opportunities in a market where local is currently at the leading edge at their recent Interactive Local Media East conference in Boston. Two of the company’s executives who spoke during the conference, Mark Fratrik and Tom Buono, predicted that online advertising revenue will rise to $42 billion by 2015, with a continued shift towards local-focused ads and daily deals.
The firm’s research asserted that online local advertising comprised 14.1 percent of all spending by SMBs, and that in 2011 online advertising spending could reach 16.2 percent. Businesses have already begun to shift their ad budgets from strategies like direct mail and television ads to daily deals like those offered on the immensely popular Groupon.
Businesses are already beginning to shift their ad budgets from traditional marketing, and companies like Google and Groupon are definitely both ready to step in when they do.  Google’s plan seems to be replacing any need for local yellow pages or billboards, while Groupon has proven to be a worthwhile marketing expense as far as word of mouth is concerned.
“New media changes every day because of healthy competition from emerging entries,” Fratrik said.
As firms like Yahoo, Gannett , Living Social, and Cheap Local Deals explore local daily deals offerings, BIA/Kelsey forecasts the daily deals space will generate $3.9 billion in consumer spending by 2015.

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Local: Only a Click Away

January 4th, 2011

As 2010 drew to a close, it became pretty obvious just how important local marketing would be in 2011. Google made the most obvious moves in local, changing up its local search results, or what it calls Places Search.

Google Maps always had local results available, but clicking on the Maps tab in the left sidebar would take you straight to the Maps page. Conducting a regular search with a localized query would cause local results to cluster in a “7 pack” or “10 pack,” where the Map results appeared as a OneBox result like Videos or Images near the top of the search result page.

In the past few months Google has changed, and ultimately improved these features. It only takes one click to search for Places exclusively, with a map now showing up on the right panel, and local results filling up the page.

However, it’s not necessary to do a Places search to get those local results. Instead of clustering together in a long list next to a map, the Places results are now integrated directly into the organic results. Both the organic ranking of the site and the proximity to the searcher seem to play a role in the placement, but as usual, Google’s exact algorithm remains a mystery.

Grouped reviews by site are also a new addition, and while it’s no doubt a helpful one, it’s hard not to wonder whether or not Google included it in their Places search in order eliminate the need for anyone to go directly to a site like Yelp or Trip Advisor first.

Google’s intention to compete in the local market was made even clearer when it recently made a bid to buy Groupon. Groupon ultimately declined the $6 billion offer, possibly because it might be worth several times that in the coming years, or because its owners believe they are ready to compete with Google for local business’ marketing budgets. Either way, it’s clear that in 2011, local search (and local marketing as a whole) will continue to be a growing focus online.

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As Spending Online Increases, Twitter Offers Something New for Free

November 23rd, 2010

A recent study conducted by Zoomerang and GrowBiz Media predicted that small businesses will continue to steadily sustain, and potentially increase their marketing budgets in the coming year, particularly the portion dedicated to online marketing. This year, 39% of small businesses involved in the study spent 20% of their annual budgets on websites with that number projected to increase another 17% in 2011 – the largest increase of any marketing tactic in the survey. Over half of respondents stated that their company currently has a website, which most use primarily for general information and customer service.

Not so surprisingly, social media marketing was predicted to follow as the third-highest increase in online spending next year, considering that 34% of the companies utilizing word-of-mouth marketing have some sort of social media presence online.

local marketing statistics

With the increase in spending online, many business owners feel it is important to see the metrics involved with their social campaigns similar to those available with websites. Facebook business pages come with “Insights,” charts and graphs illustrating interactions between users and your page but up until this point only third party programs have been available for analyzing Twitter data. Recently, however, Twitter announced that they would finally be offering an official analytics tool by the end of 2010. Users will be able to use Twitter Analytics to view graphs of followers, retweets, replies, and favorites over time – it will even provide information as specific as which tweets caused users to unfollow your account. The inarguable best part of the new tool is its price: Free.

So while interest, emphasis, and spending in the online realm continue to increase, Twitter offers some comfort to small businesses by providing a tool that won’t cause that annual spending to rise any more than necessary.

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Google Instant Previews: 7 Things to Consider This Instant

November 17th, 2010

Google took another step forward in providing relevancy to its users last week when it made Instant… instant-er. When you submit a search in Google, you should now see a small magnifying glass to the right of each listing, which when clicked will enable Google’s new Instant Previews on each listing, allowing you to see a graphical snapshot of the web pages returned by your query. This snapshot often includes what Google calls “text call outs”, which magnify and highlight the part(s) of the page including your search terms. On many of the results, you’ll also notice what looks like tear(s) in the page, which is Google’s way of showing users the most relevant sections of the web page without disturbing the context. The big G reports that custom search results are usually returned to the user in under one-tenth of a second, and that “people who use Instant Previews are about 5% more likely to be satisfied with the results they click”. This is fantastic news, as it means a more qualified and happy site visitor, but what does it mean for your digital branding efforts?

Well, this isn’t the first time site previewing has been done, but while it’s here and especially if it happens to stick, there are a few lingering implications that may be cause for concern. Looking through Instant Previews over the past week, I’ve collected a list of notable search changes when it comes to Google’s new feature:

1. Aesthetics are Paramount
Layout and design are becoming increasingly more important with Google’s new Instant feature. Now users can choose to steer clear of your website altogether based on aesthetics alone, so even the most relevant site may be ignored. If both of these websites were in your top three search results, which would you choose after using Instant Previews?

2. Flash Designs Leave Much to be Desired
Not only are there countless small-sized companies losing out in search because of pure Flash designs that search engines don’t render, but also the big guys, like Dolce & Gabbana, Dominos, and even Disney, among others. If you have a Flash site, don’t let this be your visitor’s first impression. Be sure to serve content for those that don’t have Flash installed as well and you can’t go wrong.

3. Link Farms/Ad-traps Exposed
In my searching for resources on the web, it is all too often I run into pages like these, cluttered with links and ads. Now with Instant Previews, spammy websites will be easier to spot, so if you’re not giving users what they’re in search of, you’re definitely in trouble.

4. Page Length May Be Discouraging
It has been proven by web usability experts that users prefer well-organized, easily scannable content and avoid long, scrolling pages. Users dislike marketing fluff, so oftentimes lengthy pages can be instant justification for dismissal. I’ll admit many factors come into play here, such as user expectations, type of business, content, and images used to reinforce the content. Keep in mind though, if you’re not organizing your website appropriately, it will likely be obvious to potential visitors.

5. Focused Content is a Must
Content has always been king, but now that Google is enlarging and highlighting your most relevant content in Instant Previews, you’ll want to make sure your copy includes key terms in all the appropriate places. The more highlighted items in a user’s eyes indicate more relevance, and an increased chance of click-through.

6. Size Does Matter
Scan through a page of Instant Previews for a product such as art prints or sunglasses and note which sites caught your eye the most. It was likely the pages with large, clear images of the product and large, clear headings relating to the merchandise, such as “$20 Sunglasses” or “Art Prints and Beyond”. Images and eye-catching text have always played a huge role in attracting users – and they will even more so now. Keep these aspects in mind as you review your website. Is your message clear when your site is reduced to 20% to 30% of its standard size?

7. Immediate Access to Answers may be Detrimental
While Google is doing a continuously great job of providing relevant content, giving a preview of this information means less people need to click through to your website to get what they need.

If you think Google is simply bringing issues to the forefront that have been essential all along, you’re absolutely right. In their never-ending pursuit for relevance, we are uncovering what should have been our focus all along – the user.

What other issues do you see arising as a result of Google’s new Instant Previews feature?

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Google Extends $5 Million Olive Branch to News Organizations

October 26th, 2010

For years, Google has had a markedly shaky relationship with news organizations, from accusations of stealing the news to persecution over a seemingly inevitable shift in channels. Now in an effort to “encourage innovation at a more grassroots level”, Google has donated $5 million for innovation in digital journalism to be divvied between the Knight Foundation, an organization that drives innovation in journalism, and selected international journalism projects, which will be released in the New Year.

While the search giant believes that this move will promote democracy and encourage evolution in the news industry, it is also part of their policy (and their clearly philanthropic nature) to contribute 1% of all profits to charity. This olive branch aims to help news industries who have fallen behind the curve and also arrives in perfect time to smooth over recent comments made by Google CEO Eric Schmidt that folks that don’t like Google Map’s street view of their homes “can just move”.

To learn more, visit the Google blog here.

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LMX 2010 Says Thank You

September 30th, 2010

To all of our sponsors, organizers, speakers, exhibitors, and attendees, Local Marketing Expo 2010 would like to say a huge “Thank You!”

We were excited to welcome close to 600 attendees to our first-ever Local Marketing Expo here in Virginia Beach. Although the weather was rough outdoors, The Virginia Beach Convention Center provided a great space for local business leaders to meet, greet, and hopefully share knowledge about their area of marketing expertise. After the event, we sent out a survey to all participants and are immensely grateful for the positive feedback and constructive advice. Thank you for taking the time to help us create an even more successful and enjoyable event next year!

Moving forward, we’re excited about the future and will keep you updated here, on Twitter, and Facebook!

local marketing expo

photo by Vincent Shilling

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Come to LMX 2010

September 28th, 2010

It’s finally here!
We hope to see you tomorrow at the Local Marketing Expo 2010 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. Registration begins at 9 a.m. The conference begins at 10.

Come spend the day with us learning about local marketing and advertising strategies. We have more than 65 of the brightest and the best coming to speak.

Online registration has officially ended, but you can still come, just register at the door. Cost is $249 per attendee.

See you there!

It’s finally here!

We hope to see you tomorrow at the Local Marketing Expo 2010 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. Registration begins at 9 a.m. The conference begins at 10.

Come spend the day with us learning about local marketing and advertising strategies. We have more than 65 of the brightest and the best coming to speak.

Online registration has officially ended, but you can still come, just register at the door. Cost is $249 per attendee.

See you there!

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Elected Leadership Needs to Hear the Voice of the Business Community

September 21st, 2010

From the desk of Jack Hornbeck, President & CEO of Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce

With the approach of the midterm elections, it is doubly important for the Hampton Roads business community to remain actively engaged with our elected leadership.

We at the Chamber will help you do so.

The Chamber provides opportunities for members of the business community to interact with the men and women who want to serve our region in Congress, as well as those who represent us in the General Assembly and here at home on City Council, School Boards and in constitutional offices.

We are presenting several forums in the coming weeks, some in conjunction with our Hampton Roads Business Political Action Committee. I encourage our members and other business leaders to hear what the candidates and elected officials have to say and take advantage of one-on-one opportunities to ask questions.

Demonstrating our commitment to working with our leaders and the leaders of tomorrow on issues that shape our economy, business environment, and communities, a forum is scheduled for Sept. 27, and it focuses on the Second Congressional District. U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye, the incumbent Democrat, and challengers Scott Rigell, a Republican, and Kenny Golden, an independent, are scheduled to address our membership and take questions. The forum is from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Monday, Sept. 27, at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott, 235 E. Main St., downtown Norfolk. Please call Candace Reid at (757) 664-2572 to register.

Additionally, we will bring our local congressmen together on Oct. 25 to discuss issues regarding business and other critical matters facing the U.S.          

On Oct. 20, we will present our 7th Annual Legislative Reception, which brings our local legislators and businesspeople together before the General Assembly Session starts.  This has traditionally brought out more than 250 members from the business community and attracts elected officials from all five city councils and school boards as well as our General Assembly delegation.

Other important candidate forums presented by the Chamber in October include the Portsmouth Mayoral Candidates Forum on Oct. 14 and a forum with the huge field of candidates for Suffolk City Council.  For more information on these and other events, visit www.HamptonRoadsChamber.com.

We hope we will see you at these events, either bearing questions or simply listen. It is vital that our business community remains in communication with elected officials as we work our way through this challenging economy.

Again, this is part of the Chamber’s longstanding commitment to working with our current and future government leaders, at all levels while providing the local business community access to these decision makers.

We hope you will also consider joining the most powerful voice for business in our region, and make the strength of that voice grow.

Your support helps us ensure that the voice of businesses continues to be heard.

Jack Hornbeck

**Be sure to visit the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce booth #6 at LMX!

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